Jun 7 - so far, so good

I went into town with Sandy's car; everything seems to be ok.  There may still be some residual oil smell but that's likely just a dirty engine.  The car is 14 years old, after all.  The other sedan, the M5, is 15 years old.  Sandy's car will be going to Oakville today ... with Sandy ... and back on Friday. 

I did some weed whacking, most of the front and side yards, by the driveway, but not the hill by the kitchen or the "back 40" -- that area off the barn. 

Another small project didn't bear any fruit -- I'd replaced the connectors on the xplornet coax cable and added dielectric grease, reducing the attenuation slightly.  I'm told that better grounding is the key, so I picked up a ground plate at Home Hardware and dug it into the ground up by the dishes, connecting an 8 gauge wire to the works.  It made no difference.  I may try improving the existing ground connections as the corrosion might be affecting things. 

The first work on this a few days ago did reduce the attenuation from 17, which is supposedly where it starts affecting transmission/reception, to 14-15, so I've made some improvement.  I'd like to get it down much further.  All of the other measures, SNR and cable resistance, are in good shape.  SNR is middle of the acceptable range, resistance is almost zero, bottom (good) in the range. 

Sandy went out for a walk with Cassie so I decided to hit the basement and finish up the work on the Litespeed.  I needed to setup the brakes and shifting and wrap the bars.  I did all that and then decided that there was just a little too much play in the headset, so I gave that a tighten ... snap.  The compression plug snapped.  Great.  Almost ready to throw in the towel, I decided to have a go at grinding down a star-nut to see if it would grip the titanium steerer ... well, it did.  I'm back in business. 

I'm not happy with how this has gone with Ticycles, needless to say, however, the bike is now ready to ride.  I'll probably take it out tomorrow.

I'm still undecided as to whether I'll use the front bag for the Cascade.  Should I go with "full regalia" and use fenders as well ?  I've got a few days to make that decision.  In fact, I can bring it all with me and decide at the last moment depending on the weather. 

I gave Cassie some good exercise yesterday, swimming and chasing the ball on the deck.  She doesn't tire though, the energizer bunny keeps on going.  The collar is working out well.  She stays close.

I ordered wire to be delivered to Jim.  He'll put the wire around the Hemmingford property and I'll bring the transmitter so that Cassie will be contained to the backyard -- which is huge, encompassing an orchard -- giving them, and us, peace of mind.  They're on a busy road and Cassie needs to know her boundaries.  Sandy will train her to the flags before flying to Italy to meet me.

Jason and Lorraine came over a little after 6pm, actually meeting us on the deck.  We were just heading to their place.  Great minds think alike !  They headed home for their dinner and we put ours on as well; pickerel in our case and sauteed zucchini.

There goes the clock ... we replaced the chiming clock that my Mom and Dad had at the entrance to the cottage.  I couldn't keep it running.  Even Alex took a look at it and no luck.  It's time for Cassie and I to have breakfast.

Onward !